Adjustable reclining chair



Dec. 30, 1947. A. LORENZ I ADJUSTABLE RECLINING CHAIR Filed Jan. 8, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 'l INVENTOR A /vr0/v LORENZ *2 A TTORNE Y Dec. 30, 1947. LORENZ 2,433,519

ADJUSTABLE RECLINING CHAIR Filed Jan. 8, 1944 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Aura/v L o/mvz v A TTORNE Y PatentedDec. 30, 1947 UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJIIS TA LE NINGI HAIB' Anton 110113112, Buifalo, N. Y; applica ion ama -"x 9 ia N iii/ 516.

13' Claims;

My nv nt on. e a s o. rt cl s, urn ura. ndm9r part cularly to; adjustable. ecl n ng. h rs: r .t e ke,- whe e n .thefiO Jt' po tion oi he: seams irot d to asu n r herear, p rt on.

oi the seat is ninged ,to, a back-rest, and on:

troll n me h nism .is pro ided for anr utom t c vaxi j ni-n e-a le be ween the k-r t ed, the eat whenhe eat smwed om tt n nositi'on intoa reclined position and vice versa, so

that theebackerest automatically adjustsitselfv nto n fiit onto supnort thebackvof a person itting. on. the th ir.

In customary adjustable reclining, chairs. of abov described pe. he ntro i me hanis comprises a guiding link, one-end oLw-hichds pivoted to the support at,a,p.0i nt in a plane below he. horiz ntal p a eof he nt iv of h rfifllh. lldthe other end oi which is,piv,0t ed to an intermediate poi-ntnof the ba :k-rest.v ThiS,ar-.

rangement. causes a movement of said intermediate point of the -back ,-r es t. by said guidinglink. along a, circular pathduring. a movement of .the. seat fromthe, sitting position into thereclined-po-fl. sition., While the angles between. the. back-rest. and the. seat in the sitting position and intheex treme reclined position may be. comfortable, it may be under.certain.circumstancesthat the an:

gleev betwe.en-the=back;.-rest and. the seat con-. trolled bysaidcircular path of the intermediate point of the back-rest arenot as ,comfortableas he shou d sqi som ot th i te mediate 40 1 tiOens between the. sitting position and the extreme reclined position; Furthermore, this customaryv arrangement imposes, certain limitations on; the; designer. of the chair with respect to the degree o; the, angle between the; backerestiandthe seat,

with; respect to the inclinations of-the seatand thel bacl ;,-rest, and withrespect to the-degreeof the varlation in the angle between thabackrre st and the eatur nga movem ntio sthe latte Ans hisst jmy nventi n isto oteecomeaboye men-finned d s dvan a itsand to imprp euponsh adiusta e. linin hairsthe.- ike as. ew:

ord n l made,

Anoth ob ect o my n n n .isuip adjustab e-v e i in a r-Qt above d ib d pe with a;controlling-mechanism, which may be de ig e s ch-a man er, hat eane s b t n; he. e t a d. th se n me ia e .051? tions. QLthe seat-.ngia g befreely chosen so as -to bi-air ine tm st icomfort.

Afiu he bieeto m nven i i rrange: dinst ne; -;m a 1s -in an adjustable l n n c air Q bo deserihe i ty e-i by mea s. f; ic he? uses-Qt haha r: manima g a p re diustm nt v 1 the angle between the backerest and the seat and/01 a preadjustment of the inclination of the seat or the. baclgrest.

Still another ob ect o my invention is ,to equip an adjustable reclining chair ofaboye described t pe ith mea s, y a pi w ic he r. of

the chair may determine the degree of variation in the angle between the backgrest, and the seat d fingfi s nsi sm yementnf t u i he a ov et nnedjobis n d n es a Well as other objects and'advantages will be more erenteva iation n he an le etwe n h kerest and the, seatduring asWinging movement of heiat nand,w er in. a w e bl t nn ed,.w th h ackses F 4 and aillust ate s v als ms h uidneslots, of di fe ntsh s,whicbm e us inthe camcontrol for obtaining different movements of the movable mQmbBIS Of the fchair,

Fig. 5 isa side elevational view of a different embodiment of an adjustable reclining chair,

whereinthe 0am with the guiding slot is rigidly: secured toaside wallof the chair, andwherein the extension connectedwith thefiam control is.

of,an adjustable telescopic construction for meal;-

n h sired.pr adiu tmen s some p its being,

broken away,

6is aside elevational View. of anadjust fl ablearm-ch c rd n o e n en on. a POP- tion of the side wall beingbrpken away,

Fig. 7 is. a; fragmentary sectional view in an enlargedscale taken on line .l-.1cof.Fig, 1,

Fig. 8 isasect-ional viewin an enlarged scale taken on 1iI '1e 8- 8.of 1,

Fig, 9., is a sectionaLview in an enlarged taken o ,1 e.9 .,-9. Of Fig, and

Fig. 10 is asectionalview takenonline Hi -1H),

of Fig. 6..

Referring now to Fig. 1, It! generallyindicatese asupport of any conventionalconstruction. The. front 'portion of aseat l2 is pivoted to theisup-w port In at, I 4, and. a back-rest IE1 is pivoted to he-rear portion-oi. theseat at. l8, Org-each ide.

of the chair an extension or connecting element 29 in the shape of an arm-rest is rigidly connected with the back-rest I6 by screws 22. A cam 24 with a guiding slot 26 of suitable shape is mounted on the support I0. As best shown in Fig. 2, one end of said cam 24 is swingably mounted on a bolt 28 screwed into the support I0. According to Figs. 1 and 7, an element 29 having a threaded bore 31 is rotatably mounted in a bore 33 at the other end of said cain 24. Said threaded bore 3| of the element 29 is engaged with a threaded spindle 30 rotatably and axially immovably mounted in a bore 35 of a member 31 rotatably mounted in a bore 39 of the support I0. Said spindle 30 may be rotated by a handle 32 for adjusting the cam .24 in a predetermined position, for' example" in the position shown in Fig. 1. A lug 34 projecting from the arm-rest or extension 20 carries a pivot 36 rotatably engaged with a sliding block or sliding element 38 slidably engaged with the actuating surface or guiding slot 26 of the cam 24, as best shown in Fig. 2. The cam control 24, 26, 36, 38 just described may be arranged only on one sideor on both sides of the chair.

The sitting position of the seat and back-rest is shown in full lines in Fig. 1. Said sitting position is limited by the upper end of the guiding slot 26 forming an abutment for the sliding block 38 pivotally connected with the lug 34 on the armrest 20.

The extreme reclined position I2, I 6' of the seat and back-rest is shown in dash and dot lines in Fig. 1. Said extreme reclined position is limited by the bracing member 40 of the support I0, which forms an abutment for the seat.

, During a movement of the seat I2 from said sitting position into said'reclined position I2, thepivotal connection 36 of the arm-rest or extension 20 with thesliding block 38 of the cam control is guided by the guiding slot 26 of the cam 24, whereby the movement of the backrest I6 is controlled with the result of an increase in theangle between the back-rest and the seat.

A- torsional spring 42 arranged around the pivot I4 has its ends connected with the support I and the seat I2 for urging the seat and backrest from a reclined position into the sitting position limited by the upper end of the guiding slot as described above. Said. spring arrangement yieldingly opposing a movement of the members of the chair into a reclined position may be of any desired construction, for example of a construction as shown in my U. S. Patent 2,365,200 relating to An adjustable reclining chair issued December 19, 1944. Furthermore, it may be mentioned that resilient means for returning the seat and back-rest into the sitting position may be arranged at points other than the pivot I4. If the user of the chair wishes to'relax and leans his body against the back-rest. 16, the back-rest and the seat are moved against the action of such resilient means into a reclined position.

The movable members I2, 16, 2B of the chair may be held in any desired position by means of a locking device generally indicated by 44. According to Figs. 1 and 8, said locking device 44 comprises a handle 45 screwed on the threaded end of the pivot I8 between the seat I2 and the element 4'I rigidly secured to the backrest I6. Said pivot I8 has a square portion 49 engaged with a square aperture of the seat I2, whereby the pivot is prevented from rotation. A head ori the pivot I8 rests againsta surface of the seat 12. When'the user of'thechair loose the mounted on the support In at 48.

locking handle 45, the surface of the hub 53 of said handle is disengaged from the surface of the element 41, so that the movable members of the chair may be freely moved from one position into another one. When the locking handle 45 is tightened, the surface of the hub of the handle is pressed against the element 41, whereby the latter is pressed against the seat [2 engaged with the head 5! of the pivot I8, so that the movable members of the chair are held in their position. Of course, the locking means may be of different type and may be arranged at another part of the chair, if desired.

As pointed out above, the position of the cam control relative to the support may be adjusted by means of the spindle 30, 32 controlling the position of the cam 24 swingably mounted on a pivot of the support. For example, the cam 24 may be brought from the position shown in Fig. 1 into the position shown in Fig. 3. ,This adjustment causes no change in the angle between the back-rest I6 and the seat I2 in the sitting position, as the axes of the pivots 28 and 36 (Fig. 2) are in alignment with each other in said sitting position. However, the angle between the backrest and the seat in the reclined position I21, I61 of Fig. 3 becomes larger than the corresponding angle between the back-rest and the seat in the reclined position l2, I6 according to Fig. 1. As will be readily understood, an adjustment of the cam control by swinging the cam 24 about its pivot 28 may'also cause changes in the inclinations of the seat and back-rest, if the axes of the pivots 28 and 36 do not coincide in the sitting position of the seat.

As a matter of example, the chair shown in Fig. 3 bein otherwise the same chair as that shown in Fig. 1, is equipped with a leg-rest 46 swingably One end of a connecting link 50 is pivotally connected with an extension 52 of the leg-rest at 54, while the other end of said connecting link is pivoted to the back-rest I6 at 56. Said connecting mechanism serves to swing the leg-rest 46 simultaneously with a swinging movement of the seat I2.

According to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1-3, the adjustments of the inclinations of the seat and back-rest and of the relative movements thereof are obtained by an adjustable cam 24 movably mounted on the support I0. Instead of such a single movable and adjustable cam, however, a set of cams with guiding slots of different shape may be used for obtaining adjustments of this type. In such a case means, for example screws, are provided for a detachable stationary mounting of the selected cam of said set of cams on the support of the chair, so that a certain cam may be readily replaced by another cam of the set.

Figs. 4 and 4a illustrate as a matter of example several cams of such a set of cams with guiding slots" of different shape and direction. If a cam 24a with a straight horizontal actuating surface or guiding slot is attached to the support II] of the chair by means of screws 25 passing through holes of the cam as shown in Fig. 4 and the user of the chair leans his body against the back-rest, the back-rest swings about the pivot on the rear portion of the seat, while the seat remains substantially in the horizontal position or may be even slightly lifted. If a cam 24b with a straight vertical actuating surface or guiding slot shown in Fig. 4a is arranged on thesupport of the chair, the seat may be swung about its front pivot, while the inclination of the back-rest remains substana eas-mes 5-3 tially unchanged. Ifixaacamnflc :withra straighti guiding: slot :extendi'ngrtoward the .pivot "between. the back rest andlseat isarrangedonzthe support of' the a:- chair;- the seat and:- the back-rest are 1-.

cams with straight slots. extending-between the.

guiding slots :of the cam-24b and. =24c cause a greater change in theinclination of the seat than; inthe inclination of the'back-rest, i..e., in such a:

case'the angular movement ofthe seat is faster: than that of theback-resti. Ifza-camldd ori24e witha-curved actuating surface .or guiding slot.

isused; a-mixture of fast and slow'angular movements of. the seat andwback-rest is obtained; For example; theam.- z tdncauses. at thebegin! ning of the curved guidingisl'ot a faster angular movement of the back-rest, after which the angu. larmovement-of the seatisaccelerated and the:

angular I movement ofthe backerest is retarded in any case, however, the back-rest is swung, through a-greaterangl'e than the seat, as the curved guiding slotof the cam" 24d is between theuidingslots of the cams 24a and 240. On the otherhand; the cam=24e causesat the'beginning-of the curvedguiding slota faster angu-. lar movementof the-seat, after which the angular movement-of thecback-rest is accelerated and:

the angular movement of the-seat-isretarded'; in this case, however; the: seat is swung through a greateranglethan-the back-rest, as the curved guiding-slot'of the cam eds-between the guid-* ing slots of the cams-24b andMc.

According to the embodiment of a chair shown. in Fig. 5-,the centei portion of a supporting member 58 is'carried by a spindle 64 screwed'intora. conventional pedestal 66. The side walls including the arm-rests 62' are held by two pairs of arms 59 which projectfrom the front end and rearend of the center portion of the supporting. member 58. The front portion of the seat I2 is pivoted at M to a third arm 6| projecting from the front end of thecenter portion of the supporting member 58-and-the.backrest is pivotedtothe rear portionottheseat at I8. The seat I2 is under the action'oraresilientwire or spring" 68 arranged between the supporting member. 58 and the lower surface-ofthe seat; Accordingto Fig. 5,- the cam l24'having a curved guiding slot IZB- is immovably; mounted on the side wallBll: bymeans of screws 10. In order tomake adjustments of above described type, the extension or connecting element 126: is of a telescopic. construction, and its" length maybe adjusted: bymeans of an, adjusting; screw 12; One-end: of the; extension l2ll, .whic h; in this embodiment; does not form an arm-.rest,.- istrigidly 'secured'to; thebackerest' I G byy screws. The other end. of: the telescopic?extension carries:theilug 134 pivot-i ailly connected at 36withthe slidingblock ensgaged with the-guidingslot IZS'of-thecam I24; When the user of; the chair leans-his1.bodyagainst; the back-rest [6,; the sitting arrangement l2-;. I6 is moved against the action of the spring 68 from the. sitting; position shown. in. full. lines-1v th ough intermediate recliningpositions; such as: the position |2",, I6", into. theextreme. reclined: position I22. I limited by theengagement; of the sliding block of the cam.control With.th9;.-

lower endof the-guidingslct. [26.1. During this into the reclined'position l2, l6, the angle be;-

movementnt the -i ovab e-ip rts fthec air t e:-

anglebetween the :back-restand-theiseat is aut maticallyj controlled. by;v the: cam .-control acting g on the extension l 2 0 -,proj,ecting irom the.- back; 1 rest; whereby-said;angleisincreased; As will be: readily understood; different inclinations of thew seat-and back-rest are-obtained, when the length of'the telescopic extension I20 is.-shortened orlengthened.

Fig, 6-- illustrates an armchair; whereinthe: seat I2 is pivoted to -theframe or support '14.. at I 4 and the back-rest: l6..is hinged to therearportionof. the seat at,l8. The arm-rests. are

formed by the upper .portion. 16.0f the frame 14:. The seat .l2.is .under the action. of an Seshaped. spring 'lahaving its endssecured to. thebOttOm. oftheframe 14 and.to...the.seat.-l2 respectively... The .sDringserves top ,return. the sitting-arranger: ment l2, l6from a reclined positiondnto. its;

sitting position and to limit saidsitting position. The cam 224 with astraight guiding slot 226 is rigidly secured to. the. frame ,M by sorevvsflll.v In contrast'to the embodiments, showninhigs... 1-5, according to Fig; G-the sliding block. 238gslid,- ably enga fidlwith theguidingslot 226 isrigidl'y, connected with one end'of the connecting ele: ment 220 by screwsBZ; and the other end of said connecting element 220 is pivotally connected with the back-'rest'at 84.: When the sitting arrangement l2, I6 is moved from the sitting position tween the back-rest" and the seat is automati cally increased by the cam control 224, 226, 238.

The chair according'to Fig. 6 is provided with a locking device 86 comprising .a rod 88 pivoted, to the seat l2 at 90 and engaged by a clamping sleeve 92. As best shown in Fig. 9, said clamping sleeve may be tightened onthe rod'88 by means of an adjusting knob Qe'threaded on the threaded end of a bolt 91 forlockin-g themovable 'members I2; I 6; 220"0f the'chair in any adjusted A' head 94' of the bolt- 9'5 passingposition.- through registering openings of the clampingsleeve ez' anda member 99' of the-frame rests against? the clamping: sleeve, and the 1 adjusting knob 96 rests against said member 99.

Furthermore, a limiting stop generally indicated by 98'isadjustably mountedon the cam 22 for limiting the stroke of the sliding block 236so as to limit the extreme reclined position l2, l6 ofthe seatand back-rest. Obviously, said extrem'e 're'clined positionmay be varied by a changein the. position of the limiting stop com the guid ingslot lzziii As-b'ests'hown'in Fig. 10, said sci-- justable limiting stop 98 comprises a head screw IOI inserted intothe guiding slot 226 for coo-peration of its portion I03 with a sliding block 233 1 and screwed into a threaded bore N55 or a plate I01 restingon the cam 224.

Fig. 6" shows-means i for: adjusting the 7 position ottthewcam or 'fo-r' adjusting'the length of the extensionqor. for replacing a. cam by another cam of .difierents'hape for adjusting the-inclinationsof thezseat and backerest -and the relative positions thereof but it is understood that any of suchadjusting means asshown in Figs; 1-5 ei-ther= alone or in combination with each other may be appliedtoa chair as shown in Fig. 6 so as to render same adjustable inthat respect;

I 'haverdescri-bed preferred embodiments of my able' arrangement of the adjustable cams shown inthe drawings may be replaced by a slidable arrangement of such cams in guides. Furthermore, difierent inclinations of the seat and back-rest may be obtained by arranging extensions of different lengths on the back-rest and/or by arranging the extensions in a different manner at different points on the back-rest. Moreover, the normal sitting position must not necessarily be a horizontal position as shown in the drawings; if desired, the seat may be slightly rearwardly inclined in the normal sitting position.

My invention may be applied to many types of chairs, for example desk-chairs, arm chairs, reclin ing chairs for the household, garden-chairs, chairs for use in railroad cars, chairs for use in airplanes, etc. Furthermore, my invention may be applied to other articles of furniture, such as sofas or the like.

, What I claim is: V

.1. An adjustable reclining chair, or the like comprising: .a support, a seat, a back-rest, the front portion of said seat being pivoted to said support, the back-rest being pivoted to the rear portion of said seat, said seat being swingable about its front pivot from a sitting position into a reclined position, a connecting element, one end of said connecting element being connected with said backrest intermediate the top and bottom thereof, said connecting element projecting laterally at a side of said back-rest, cam control means mounted onthe support .and connected with a portion of said connecting element laterally remote from said connection between the connecting element and the back-rest. one of saidtwo connections of said connecting element being a pivotal connection, the other connection of said connecting element being a rigid connection, and resilient means arraged between the support and a movable member of the chair for yieldingl opposing a movement of the movable members into the reclined position.

2. An adjustable reclining chair or the like comprising: a support, a seat, a back-rest, the front portion of said seat being pivoted to said support, the back-rest being pivoted to the rear portion of said seat, said seat being swingable about its front pivot from a sitting position into a reclined position, a connecting element, one end of said connecting element being connected with said back-rest intermediate the top and bottom thereof, said connecting element projecting laterally at a side of said back-rest, cam control means mounted on the support and connected with a portion of said connecting element laterally remote from said connection between the connecting element and the back-rest, one of said two connections of said connecting element being a pivotal connection, the other connection of said connecting element being a rigid connection, adjustable means for varying the position of said cam control means relative to said support, and resilient means arranged between the support and a movable member of the-chair for yieldably opposing a movement of the movable members into the reclined position.

3. In combination with an adjustable reclining chair or the like as claimed in claim 1, said cam control means including a cam movably mounted on the support and a sliding element engaged with said cam and connected with said portion of the connecting element laterally'remote from the connection of the connecting element nected with said cam and said support for ad-" justing said cam in a predetermined position.

4. An adjustable reclining chair or the like comprising: a support, a seat, a back-rest, the front portion of said seat being pivoted to said support, the back-rest being pivoted to the rear portion of said seat, said seat being swingable about its front pivot from a sitting position into a reclined position, a connecting element of variable length, means for holding the sections thereof to provide a predetermined length, one end of said connecting element being connected with said back-rest intermediate the top and bottom thereof, said connecting element projecting laterally .at a side of said back-rest, cam control means mounted on the support and connected with a portion of said connecting element laterally remote from said connection between the connect ing element and the back-rest, one of said two connections of said connecting element being a posing a movement of the movable members into:

the reclined position.

5. In an adjustable reclining chair or the like as claimed in claim 1, said cam control means including a cam with a straight actuating surface and a sliding element engaged with said straight actuating surface of said cam and connected with said portion of the connecting element laterally remote from the connection of the connecting element with the back-rest.

6. In an adjustable reclining chair or the like as claimed in claim 1, said cam control means including a cam with a curved actuating surface and a sliding element engaged with said curved actuating surface of said cam and connected with said portion of the connecting element laterally remote from the connection of the connecting element with the back-rest.

7. In an adjustable reclining chair or the like as claimed in claim 1, said connecting element extending substantially horizontally so as to form an arm-rest of the chair.

8. In combination with an adjustable reclining chair or the like as claimed in claim 1, a legrest 'swingably mounted on said support, and connecting means connecting a movable member of the'chair with said swingable leg-rest for moving same.

9. An adjustable reclining chair or the like as necting element laterally remote from the con-' nection of the connecting element with the backrest, and an adjustable limiting means arranged on said cam control means for limiting the stroke of said sliding element so as to limit an extreme position of the movable members of the chair.

11. An adjustable reclining chair or the like as claimed in claim 1 including locking means arranged for cooperation with two members of the chair which are movable relative to each other so as to lock the movable members of the chair in an adjusted position.

12. An adjustable reclining chair or the like 9 comprising: a support, a seat, a back-rest, the front portion of said seat being pivoted to said support, the back-rest being pivoted to the rear portion of said seat, said seat being swingable about its front pivot from a sitting position into a reclined position, an extension rigidly connected with said back-rest, said extension projecting laterally at a side of the back-rest intermediate the top and bottom thereof, cam control means mounted on the support and pivotally connected with a laterally projecting portion of said extension, and resilient means arranged between the support and a movable member of the chair for yieldingly opposing a movement of the movable members into the reclined position.

13. An adjustable reclining chair or the like comprising: a support, a seat, a back-rest, the front portion of said seat being pivoted to said support, the back-rest being pivoted to the rear portion of said seat, said seat being swingable about its front pivot from a sitting position into a reclined position, a connecting element, one end of said connecting element being pivotally connected with said back-rest intermediate the top and bottom thereof, said connecting element pro- 25 jecting laterally at a side of said back-rest, a cam with an actuating surface mounted on the support, a sliding element engaged with said actuat- 10 ing surface and rigidly connected with a portion of said connecting element laterally remote from said pivotal connection between the connecting element and the back-rest, and resilient means arranged between the support and a movable member of the chair for yieldingly opposing a movement of the movable members into the reclined position.

ANTON LORENZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 58,713 Bragg Oct. 9, 1866 984,709 Ruggles Feb. 21, 1911 1,301,429 Givner Apr. 22, 1919 868,052 Wilmot Oct. 15, 1907 763,656 Bennett June 28, 1904 1,198,912 Haberacker Sept. 19, 1916 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 513,709 Great Britain Oct. 19, 1939 389,645 Germany Dec. 31, 1921 

